


Bound by purpose

by warlock_enthusiast



Category: Baldur's Gate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 23:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19161448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warlock_enthusiast/pseuds/warlock_enthusiast
Summary: I hope, I'm doing this right :D first time doing a fan exchange.It's a  bit of an AU, because everyone is in a group together, but this is a small adventure for the group following the Bhaalspawn featuring Gnolls!it's written from Xzar's pov and I sincerly hope that you'll like it!





	Bound by purpose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blueinkedfrost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueinkedfrost/gifts).



He danced with corpses.

A reign of death, skeletal fingers reaching for his hands, skulls singing some unheard song.

For once, Xzar felt at peace. All split shards of his thoughts together. His heart on his tongue, his flesh set afire, and his limbs moving to a rhythm. Beneath his feet empires crumbled and old gods rose and left a trail of despair.

_Ah, sweet sweet dreams. So slick, slick, and sweet._

“Wake up.” Something steely cut through his mind. It hurt. He caught a glimpse of some hurt boy in his dreams, small, fragile, nothing sweet about him. _No._

Xzar opened his eyes to face Shar-Teel. “What kind of magic is this? Such a creature awakes me from my slumber? Gruesome monster.”

“I got no time for your shenanigans. We’re under attack.” She looked at someone… something else, pushed him from his bedroll, and reached for the weapon on her back. Xzar always slept a bit apart from the group, close enough to feel warmth on his back but with enough distance to any snoring or cuddling. 

They’d never be friends. _How sad._

Grunting, he stood up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His back hurt. He’d torn a muscle or two following the Bhaalspawn around. “Oh.”

Quickly he grabbed his staff and took position somewhere beside Dynaheir. A quick glance from her told Xzar everything that he needed to know, but she also relied on words. “I don’t want thee at my side and I don’t rely on thy foul magics.”

“Maybe I can play a part for you. Great hero, brave warrior.” Xzar’s body trembled with laughter. “No foul magic, just a giant hammer to smash things.”

“Never.” Dynaheir held her head high, as if to prove that she was above him in every regard, which forced a chuckle out of his throat.

“And here I thought we’d compare notes some day.”

“Is he giving you trouble?” Branwen touched Dynaheir’s shoulder, but her eyes remained on Xzar.

“He’ll be of aid in the upcoming battle.”

“You sure of that?” 

Dynaheir smiled. Ever so slightly her fingers brushed those of Branwen. Both women shared a smile, tender, fleeting.

_Interesting._

Maybe he’d witness the gentle start of some romantic inclination?  
For a single second he tried to understand their allure. Soft-skinned, raven-eyed Dynaheir combined with Branwen’s hair of honey and her faith. 

_No._

_No. No._

_No time for that. No time to think about soft things._

Xzar concentrated on the magic on his fingertips. “Where is the foe. I see only you.”

Dynaheir’s smile vanished as she reached for a spell scroll and ignored him. The muscles in her back looked strained, like using every inch of her will to not say something her goodness wouldn’t allow.

Sighing, Branwen pressed her lips together, and pointed to the forest. “Our leader has vanished and so has Minsc. I heard some shouting and as I woke up, they were gone.”

“The start of a great adventure!” Xzar clapped.

“If you want to call it great.”

A bolt flew right over his shoulder and hit the tree behind his back. The sharp end cut his cheek and Xzar jumped back. Blood trickled down his skin. 

“Oh, yes yes… we’re under attack. I see now.”

Shar-Teel rolled her eyes and grabbed her huge beast of a sword. She’d never protect him willingly, or any man for that matter, but she still hung around the Bhaalspawn and followed her own code of honor in doing so. 

With her mace and shield ready, Branwen stepped in front of Dynaheir. People just seemed ready to protect the other mage, while most kept their fair distance of Xzar.  
Trust and devotion weren't for him. Maybe in another life, another existence. 

He saw massive, bulky bodies ending in dog-like snouts. Their ears twitched at every sound. They growled and howled and Xzar felt disgust at the sight of them.

Gnolls. Fantastic. Everything would reek of wet dog for at least a week.

They were ten of them? Maybe eleven. He’d not time left to count. Equipped with halberds and crossbows, they’d surrounded their camp without anyone noticing. Normally Gnolls weren’t especially known for their stealth and sneakiness, but maybe one of them had a talent for magic. An especially huge one wore leather armor, obviously better than equipped than the rest of them. The alpha Gnoll. A prestigious position among those animals. 

What had become of their own leader? And Minsc? Eaten like some freshly roasted pig? _Such a delicious meal the both of them._

Xzar looked around. Something seemed off with Dynaheir. Her face lost color and she froze in place, nimble fingers shaking. Ah, he remembered the stories of her being held in a Gnoll fortress. The atrocities, the nightmares forged in days of separation from her friend Minsc and his rodent friend. 

A spiritual hammer clouded his vision as Branwen called out to her warrior god and let it hit some Gnolls. Snarls and barks rang in his ears and he barely had time to register that Dynaheir flew magic missiles into some Gnoll’s faces. Xzar recovered and combined a small bag and lit a candle. He seemed safe behind the backs of their more broad-shouldered companions and closed his eyes.

The incantation flowed from his lips and his heart rejoiced. Magic colored his eyes and face.

A small, fiendish creature erupted from the earth. Black and gnarly it claws would cut through Gnoll’s skin. Xzar commanded it to attack the Alpha. _Rip out his eyes._ It did. Blood covered the ground a few seconds later. 

He’d no time to enjoy a small victory. Another Gnoll broke through their ranks and pushed Shar-Teel and Branwen aside. Iron tore his flesh and innards apart and he fell to his knees. The world lost its clearness. His surroundings bled together in crimson. Would he die? Like this? Slaughtered by some dumb Gnolls? Not the end of some thrilling adventure. Rather a stinking fart. 

Xzar concentrated on his fingertips and flames sprang alive atop them. A bit more, just a bit more. Sparks grew bolder and wider and he threw his fireball into a group of Gnolls. He tasted blood in his mouth and he lost the feeling in his leg.

Corpses danced before his eyes. _Not yet not yet._

Weapons clashed against each other, shields broke, armor ripped. Xzar listened to the sounds of war and suddenly saw a flash of Montaron, as if he never died, between the trees. The halfling smiled and held a large knife in his hand. Must be the blood loss. Surely. He wouldn't follow him.

_Not yet._

Shar-Teel used her brute force to rip through the lines of already disorganized Gnolls. With Branwen at her side, the two of them seemed unstoppable. Magic and force made a spectacle of murdering the creatures. He almost pitied them. They’d vastly overestimated their strength and skills and now fell and died.

Xzar smelled their fear and blood and their grunts and whelps echoed through their surroundings. 

Dynaheir came to his aid, so did Branwen. A warm hand touched his forehead, another found the ghastly wound. 

“Thou shall not bleed to death on my watch.”

“Me? Worthy of your attention? Oh it has to be my birthday!” Xzar’s throat tasted dry and of death. That halberd sure got him. “It is my birthday, mother?”

He could actually feel her eyes rolling back in her skull, but with the help of Branwen, Dynaheir closed his wound with a simple spell and a mixture of herbs and bandages. She even helped him to stand up. Xzar quickly cleaned his and on his robes. Didn’t want to catch any of her superior virtue. It would stuck to him like a fly on honey. 

“A mess.” Shar-Teel cleaned her weapon with a piece of clothing and put her hair back into a tight bun. Some of it had come loose during their encounter with the Gnolls. She spat on their corpses.

Branwen raised her brows, but said nothing about Shar-Teels behaviour. Instead, she pointed at the nearby trees. “Still leaves us with the mystery of our missing companions.”

“Maybe the Gnolls ate them.” Xzar’s explanation seemed to struck a nerve, because Dynaheir squeezed Branwen’s hand and shook her head.

“I believe in Minsc and our leader. They’ll always protect each other.”

Branwen nodded. “You’re right. Doesn’t hurt to look for them, though.”

“Agreed.” Shar-Teel took the lead. Whether of some unseen attachment to the missing men, Xzar doubted that, or some bond with both Dynaheir and Branwen, rather unlikely but somehow more believable, he didn’t know. He felt Dynaheir's and Branwen's magic on his skin. Their healing powers. It itched, it scratched, but he was able to use his legs again. So different from his own talents. With him, everything was rotten and dying. Remembering how it'd felt, to make a creature come back to life for the first time, still left a faint echo of happiness in his mind. 

Even without a proper tracker amidst their group, following the path of the Gnolls wasn’t overly hard. Those abominations left a clear trail of destruction and stink. A dead deer here, a dead rabbit there.

That god-awful stench.

“Ah, that smell. Reminds me of my youth.” Xzar laughed and it echoed through the forest. “Simpler days!”

It took them minutes. How could they've overlooked such obvious closeness to the Gnolls? They'd surely set more watches during their next nights. 

Dynaheir pinched her nose. “Ugh.” Chunks of rotten meat lay around a campfire, combined with rusty weapons and bits and pieces of armor and clothing. “I almost pity them.” Dynaheir was too pure, too good, to actually curse a creature in front of other living beings. Or maybe not, but he hadn’t heard many foul words escaping her lips. Xzar guess that those were reserved for people like him. Evil and unredeemable. 

“Almost.” Branwen shook her head and reached for her weapon. Couldn’t be careful enough around here. Xzar covered his mouth and nose and tried to guess which poor creature had served as the Gnoll’s last meal. Instead of finding an answer, he heard steps.

“It’s us! Lower your weapons. We’re still in one piece and very much alive.” Their leader stepped out of the cave and Xzar swore that he could hear a hamster squeak behind him. Both them and Minsc looked a bit weary, smudged faces and armor, and color drained from their faces. 

“We heard some noise back there and found a cave … and well, you seem to have found its inhabitants.” The Bhaalspawn scratched their head. “Sorry for that.” A lazy, almost arrogant, smile crossed their lips.

“But we’re back now. No more fear my fair ladies and traveling companions.”

Shar-Teel grunted something that sounded rather crude, while Dynaheir stood at Minsc side and asked him a question in their native tongue. Minsc hugged her, lifted her from her feet, and pressed her close to her chest. Branwen made herself busy cleaning up the camp, trying not to look at the both of them too closely. Xzar wondered, how someone could be so open with their feelings and warmth. He'd never know such a kind touch, or a person, who held a spark of fire in their eyes when looking at him.

_Lonely, lonely, always lonely._

And Xzar sat down, watching everyone around him carefully. His wound didn't bother him any more, the blood loss did. Xzar's fingertips prickled and he moved his hands up and down and reached for his wineskin. Too heavy for his taste, but it would wash away the taste of blood. 

The Bhaalspawn hugged Dynaheir and Branwen and clapped Shar-Teel on the shoulders. There was laughter and a shared story of finding a cave full of Gnolls in the wilderness. Xzar yawned and waited for them to finish. He'd nothing to add to their conversation.

_One day, they’d be corpses too. Dancing in his dreams and visions. Forgotten, remembered. Heroes, villains._

He often wondered what would become of the Bhaalspawn. There were signs of evil and good, of war and peace, and everything in between such polar opposites. 

Only time would tell.


End file.
